Game device

ABSTRACT

The present invention is embodied in a game device for playing a game in which a moving body is levitated above a play field board by air emitted from a number of holes formed in the play field board. A moving body feeding device automatically feeds the moving body onto the play field board. After use, the moving body is recovered, lifted above the play field board, and dropped into guides which guide the moving body onto the play field board.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a game device for playing a game bymoving on a play field board a moving body levitated by air emitted.

BACKGROUND ART

Hitherto, a game device for simulating an actual ball game such ashockey or soccer in which the game is played by moving a moving bodylevitated by air emitted in a state of small friction resistance hasbeen known.

In such an air hockey game device, many holes are formed in arectangular play field board spread over an upper surface of a gamedevice box body and a disk-shaped puck is levitated by air emitted fromthe holes. Goals are provided on the right and left of the play field.Players standing behind the goals facing to each other repel the puckwith mallets to compete for putting the puck in the goal of theopponent.

As the puck levitated has very small friction resistance and movessmoothly, a taste like the ice hockey can be obtained.

In such a manner, two players hit a puck mutually and victory or defeatis decided by the number of goals within a predetermined time.

When the puck enters one of the goals, the puck falls in a puck receptoropening on a side face of the game device box body and the player takesout the puck from the puck receptor to return it on the play field forstarting the game again.

Therefore, the player has to take out the puck and place it on the playfield every time the puck enters the goal. It is troublesome so that theplayer sometimes can not concentrate on the game and loss the interest.

If feeding puck is left to the player, the puck apt to be fed in anunnatural posture, because the player intends to place the puck on theply field in a hurry. If the puck of the unnatural posture is hit by themallet, an orbiting path of the puck becomes upward to cause aninconvenience that the puck jumps out of the field.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

The present invention has been accomplished in view of the foregoing andan object of the present invention is to provide a game device in whichwork of the player to feed the moving body on the play field isexcluded, an inconvenience related to feed of moving body is dissolvedand the player can concentrate on the play to be excited.

In order to achieve the object, the present invention provides a gamedevice for playing a game by moving on a play field board a moving bodylevitated by air emitted from a number of holes formed in the play fieldboard, comprising a moving body feeding device for automatically feedingthe moving body onto the play field board.

Since the moving body is fed to a position suitable for hitting it onthe play field board automatically by the moving body feeding device,the player is not required to place the moving body on the play fieldboard himself, and can concentrate on the play only to be excited.

The moving body can be fed onto the play field board always in apertinent posture and to a pertinent position, therefore aninconvenience such that the moving body jumps out of the field byoperation of the player can be avoided.

The above-mentioned moving body feeding device comprises recovery meansfor recovering the moving body after use, lifting means for lifting themoving body recovered by the recovery means above the play field board,dropping means for dropping the moving body lifted by the lifting means,and guide means for guiding the moving body dropped by the droppingmeans onto the play field board.

The moving body recovered by the recovery means is next lifted above theplay field board by the lifting means, dropped by the dropping means andthen guided and fed onto the play field board by the guide means, thusthe moving body can be fed automatically onto the play field boardalways pertinently.

The guide means may have a discharge outlet positioned at a height nearan upper surface of the play field board, thereby the dropped movingbody is guided so as to run out horizontally onto the play field boardwhen moving direction of the moving body is changed to about horizontaldirection. According to this constitution, the moving body is ejectedonto the play field board as if it glides horizontally so that themoving body is fed onto the play field board always in a pertinentposture and an inconvenience such that the moving body jumps out of thefield by operation of the player can be avoided surely.

The game device may be so constituted that the play field board isshaped in a rectangle; goals are provided at right and left symmetricalpositions of the play field board; the recovery means recovers themoving body after use entering the goal to a lower portion at a middleof a front or rear side edge of the play field board; and the liftingmeans, the dropping means and the guide means are arranged above thelower portion where the moving body is recovered by the recovery means.

According to this constitution, in a game for competing with an opponentfor putting the moving body in the goal of the opponent at right or leftside of the plat field, the moving body put in one of the right and leftgoals is recovered to the lower portion at the middle of the front orrear side edge of the play field board, and ejected onto the play fieldboard from the guide means disposed at the middle of the side edge ofthe play field board above the position where the moving body isrecovered. Therefore, the moving body can be fed automatically always toa position suitable for the player to hit the moving body easily.

According to the game device wherein the lifting means lifts a pluralityof the moving bodies recovered by the recovery means continuously, andthe dropping means drops the moving bodies lifted by the lifting meansone by one, it is possible to store a plurality of the moving bodies forfeeding the moving body one by one quickly when it is needed.

According to the game device having an opening width adjustment meansfor adjusting width of an opening in the goal which the moving bodyenters, difficulties for putting the moving body in the goal can bechanged and a game which is most pertinent in accordance with skill ofthe player and the number of players can be set.

According to the game device having a operation switch for instructingdrive of the opening width adjustment means, the player can adjust theopening width arbitrarily by operating the operation switch.

According to the game device wherein the play field board is shaped in arectangle; goal openings are provided at right and left symmetricalpositions of the play field board; and the moving body feeding deviceincludes used moving body recovery means having a first conveyorprovided under the goal opening, a gate provided at a take-out place ofthe first conveyor for letting the moving bodies pass one by one, anddetection means for detecting the moving body passing through the gate,the moving body entering the goal opening is transported by the firstconveyor forcibly, passes through the gate and is detected by thedetection means rapidly. Therefore, a score, for example, can beindicated quickly without losing interest of the player. Further, evenin case that a plurality of moving bodies enter the goal opening at thesame time, it is avoided that a plurality of moving bodies pass throughthe gate at the same time because the gate allows only one moving bodyto pass. The detection means can detect the moving body one by one inturn surely.

According to the game device wherein a second conveyor under the gatefor receiving and transporting the moving body detected by the detectionmeans, and a recovery passage having an upper stream end positionedunder a carry-out place of the second conveyor and inclined for movingthe moving body to a predetermined position are provided, and the secondconveyor transports the moving body at a speed higher than that of thefirst conveyor, since a speed at which the second conveyor transportsthe moving body is higher than a speed at which the first conveyortransfers the moving body to the second conveyor so that the secondconveyor transports the moving bodies with intervals more than apredetermined length to the recovery passage, it is avoided that themoving bodies clog an entrance of the recovery passage.

In the above-mentioned game device, if the gate is a plate memberstanding at the take-out place of the first conveyor and having anopening at the same height as the first conveyor for allowing one pieceof the moving body to pass, even in case that a plurality of movingbodies are transported placed in heaps on the first conveyor, movingbodies positioned at an upper portion of the heap are prevented frompassing the opening of the gate by the surrounding edge of the opening,and only the lowermost moving body can pass through the opening.

The moving body prevented from passing becomes the lowermost oneeventually and passes through the gate.

Thus, even if a plurality of moving bodies are transported by the firstconveyor at the same time, the gate controls automatically the movingbodies so as to pass through the gate opening one by one in turn,therefore the detection means can detect the moving bodies one by onesurely.

If a frame rail is projected along circumference of the play field boardand the goal openings are formed at right and left symmetrical positionsof the frame rail, the game device can be applied to a game in which themoving body strikes the frame rail and bounds back as a hockey game forexample.

If the moving body is shaped in a disk, the moving body can be comparedto the puck of the hockey game and a exciting game resembling the actualgame can be realized.

If the first and second conveyors are belt conveyors, the constructioncan be simplified to lower the cost.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a whole outside view of an air hockey game device according toan embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a back side view of a main body section of an automatic puckfeeding device;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing interior of a box body of the airhockey game device from which a play field board and an air emittingmechanism are omitted;

FIG. 4 is a sectional side view of an essential part of the automaticpuck feeding device;

FIG. 5 is a back side view thereof;

FIG. 6 is a top view thereof;

FIG. 7 is a plan view showing a neighborhood of a goal;

FIG. 8 is a section taken along the line VIII--VIII of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a top view of an essential part of the goal;

FIG. 10 is a partly omitted side view showing another embodiment of thepuck recovery mechanism under the goal;

FIG. 11 is a front view viewed in the direction of the arrow XI of FIG.10;

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of an essential part of the puck recoverymechanism; and

FIG. 13 is a side view thereof.

THE BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be describedwith reference to FIGS. 1 to 9. The embodiment is an air hockey gamedevice 1 for simulating the actual hockey of which whole outside view isshown in FIG. 1.

A rectangular play field board 4 is spread over an upper surface of arectangular parallelepiped box body 3 supported by four leg portions 2.The circumference of the play field board 4 is fringed high by a framerail 5. The play field board 4 is made of a plane and durable membersuch as melamine resin and has many holes formed all over the surface.

Within the box body 3 are formed an air chamber communicating with theholes of the play field board 4. Air is supplied into the air chamber bya fan not shown and emitted upward through the holes.

A disk-shaped puck 6 fed onto the play field board 4 is levitated by theair emitted from the holes, therefore friction resistance acting on thepuck 6 is very small and the puck 6 moves smoothly.

At each middle position of both right and left sides of the rectangularframe rail 5 is provided a goal 8 having a opening directed to thefield. Above the center line 9 partitioning the play field into rightand left camps is provided a net 10 bridging front and rear sides of theframe rail 5. And at a middle position of the rear side of the framerail 5 are projected a main body section 20a of an automatic puckfeeding device 20 by which the puck 6 is automatically fed onto the playfield board 4.

Players part in right and left camps and stand behind respective goals 8for manipulating respective mallets 7 to play. The mallet 7 is formedwith a grip projected upward at a center of a disk section. The playerholds the grip to slide the mallet 7 on the play field board 4 and hitthe puck 6 with the mallet 7 for shoot.

The main body section 20a of the automatic puck feeding device 20 iscovered by a case 11 which is long sideways and inclined somewhat. On aobverse surface of the case 11, an indication section 12 for indicatingscores and the like is disposed at the center and speakers 13 arearranged on the right and left side thereof. As shown in FIG. 2, on areverse surface of the case 11, a coin slot 14 and selection buttons 15for selecting kinds of game are disposed.

In FIG. 3 showing the interior of the box body 3 from which the playfield board 4 and an air emitting mechanism are omitted, a puck recoverymechanism 21 for recovering the puck 6 entering the goal 8 and a part ofa puck lifting mechanism 30 are shown.

The puck recovery mechanism 21 comprises receptacles 22, 22 providedunder the right and left goals 8, 8 for receiving the puck 6 enteringthe goal 8, and flat recovery passages 23, 23 having U-shaped sectionsextending from the receptacles 22, 22 along the inner surface of the boxbody 3. The recovery passages 23, 23 further extend along the rear sidewall of the box body 3 to a position under the main body section 20a ofthe automatic puck feeding device 20 maintaining a predeterminedinclination.

A lower half portion of the puck lifting mechanism 30 extends below theplay field board 4 from the main body section 20a of the automatic puckfeeding device 20 and the recovery passages 23, 23 approach to thebottom portion of the puck lifting mechanism 30 from the both sides.

Therefore, the puck 6 entering the opening of the goal 8 is dropped inthe receptacle 22, then led to the recovery passage 23, and rolls on theinclined path of the recovery passage 23 by its own weight to reach thebottom portion of the puck lifting mechanism 30.

The receptacle 22 is provided with a score sensor 24 at a joint part tothe recovery passage 23 to detect the puck 6 reaching the goal andoutputs a detection signal.

As shown in FIG. 5, in the vicinity of an outlet of the recovery passage23, engaging fingers 25a, 25b of a stopper 25 are projected from thebottom plate of the recovery passage 23 to engage with and stop the puck6 rolling down.

The stopper 25 having a center pivotally supported by a pivot 26 is laidunder the recovery passage 23 about in parallel therewith and theengaging fingers 25a, 25b are projected at both ends of the stopper 25respectively. The distance between the engaging fingers 25a, 25b isabout equal to the outer diameter of the puck 6. A rod 27a of a solenoid27 is pivoted to one end of the stopper 25 and a spring 28 is connectedto another end of the stopper 25.

Therefore, the stopper 25 is driven by the solenoid 25 to swing aboutthe pivot 26. In the case that the engaging finger 25a of lower streamside is projected in the recovery passage 23 as shown in FIG. 5, thepuck 6 at the front is stopped by the engaging finger 25a and followingpucks 6 line up at the upper stream side of the front puck.

When the solenoid 27 is excited, the stopper 25 is swung against thespring 28 so that the engaging finger 25a of lower stream side isretracted as shown by the dot-dash line in FIG. 5 and the puck 6 whichwas stopped by the engaging finger 25a rolls out to be fed to the bottomportion of the puck lifting mechanism 30. At the same time that theengaging finger 25a is retracted, the engaging finger 25b of upperstream side is projected in the recovery passage 23 and engaged with thefollowing puck 6 to stop it.

After that, the excitation of the solenoid 27 is canceled and thestopper 25 is swung back by the spring 28 to the former state (the stateshown by the solid line in FIG. 5). The puck 6 which was stopped by theengaging finger 25b of upper stream side rolls down and is stopped bythe engaging finger 25a of lower stream side, and the whole becomesagain the state as shown by the solid line in FIG. 5. Thus, every timethe solenoid is driven, a puck 6 is fed to the bottom portion of thepuck lifting mechanism 30.

Next, the puck lifting mechanism 30 will be described. The puck liftingmechanism 30 has a pulley 31 positioned below the play field board 4, apulley 32 positioned above the play field board 4 and an endless belt 33wound round the pulleys 31, 32 in a somewhat inclined posture. The lowerpulley 31 is driven through gears 35, 36 by a motor 37 to run the belt33, thereby the part of the belt 33 coming in front moves upward.

On the outer circumferential surface of the belt 33, a plurality ofsupport bars 34 each directed breadthwise of the belt are arranged atregular intervals in the circumferential direction and projected.

The belt 33 is accommodated in an angular barrel-shaped case 38 long inthe vertical direction. The barrel-shaped case 38 is constructed so asto penetrate the case 11, which is long sideways and provided with theindication section 12 etc., and projects upward.

The puck 6 recovered by the aforementioned puck recovery mechanism 21 isfed to a lower end on front side of the belt 33 at the bottom portion ofthe puck lifting mechanism 30 one by one by the stopper 25, andsupported on the support bar 34 coming round the lower pulley 31.

The outer diameter of the puck 6 is larger than the width of the belt33, but the belt 33 itself is somewhat inclined so that the front sidepart of the belt 33 (called the front side belt 33 in the following)faces barely upward. Therefore, the puck 34 supported by the support bar34 is placed on the front side belt 33 stably and brought upward withrunning of the belt 33.

The puck 6 is guided by the barrel-shaped case 38 and lifted from theposition below the play field board 4 to a high position above the playfield board 4.

At an upper portion of the puck lifting mechanism 30 is provided adropping mechanism 40. The dropping mechanism 40 comprises detourpassages 41, 41 extending right and left and the puck 6 lifted to theupper pulley 32 is led to any one of the right and left detour passagesby distributing means 42 and dropped.

The distributing means is constituted by solenoids 43, 43 which aredisposed in front of and on right and left both sides of the front sidebelt 33 at about the same height as the upper pulley 32. Rods 43a, 43aof the solenoids 43, 43 are projected toward the rear side belt 33 andreach vicinities of side edges of the belt 33 when projected.

Right and left side portions of the puck supported by the support bar 34protrude from the belt 33 because the diameter of the puck 6 is largerthan the width of the belt 33, therefore, if the rod 43a of one of thesolenoids 43 is projected, a side portion of the puck 6 lifted to thedetour passage 41 comes into contact with the projected rod 43a and thepuck 6 moves horizontally to go off the support bar 34 and enter thedetour passage 41.

Namely, referring to FIG. 5, if the rod 43a of the right side solenoid43 is projected, the puck 6 coming into contact with the rod 43a goes tothe left detour passage 41. To the contrary, if the rod 43a of the leftside solenoid 43 is projected, the puck 6 goes to the right detourpassage 41.

Thus, the puck 6 lifted by the puck lifting mechanism 30 is distributedin any one of right and left by the solenoids 43.

Guide mechanisms 50 are provided under the right and left detourpassages 41 respectively. The guide mechanisms 50 are connected with thelower portions of the detour passages 41 and have guide passages 51hanged at lower portions of the guide mechanisms 50.

The guide passage 51 has a flat and closed square section and graduallychanges its direction with advancing downward and at a position wherethe guide passage 51 becomes about horizontal is formed an end opening51a (see FIG. 4).

The opening 51a is disposed at a position somewhat higher than the uppersurface of the play field board 4.

The puck 6 entering the guide passage 51 through the detour passage 41falls guided by the passage 51, changes the direction at the bentportion of the passage 51 and is ejected horizontally from the opening51a when the direction becomes about horizontal.

On the one hand, the goal 8 has a flat rectangular opening formed undera cover plate 61. The width of the opening is adjustable by an openingwidth adjustment mechanism 60 which will be described with reference toFIGS. 7 to 9.

A horizontal plate 62 forming the same surface as the surface of theplay field board 4 extends from the opening of the goal 8 to theinterior. At front and rear both ends of the horizontal plate 62 areformed rectangular openings 62a in which gate members 63 are provided soas to appear and disappear.

The gate member 63 is formed about in a rectangular parallelepiped andhas projecting bifurcate lower ends forming a pair of bearing sections63a to which a pin 64 is fitted horizontally. On the pin 64 is pivotedan end of a swing bar 65 having an about middle portion pivotallysupported by a fixed supporting shaft 66. Another end of the swing bar65 is connected through a spring 67 to a rod 68a of a solenoid 68positioned below.

A spring 70 is provided between the pin 64 and a pin 69 projected underthe pin 64 to force the gate member 73 downward and the swing bar 65 inone direction. The swing bar 65 forced by the spring is abutted againsta stopper 71 to be maintained in an about horizontal posture.

When the solenoid 68 is not excited, the swing bar 65 is kept in theabout horizontal posture by the tension of the spring 65 as shown by thedot-dash line in FIG. 8, the gate member 63 is in a lowered state thatthe member 63 is sunk in the rectangular opening 62a of the horizontalplate 62, and the opening width of the goal 8 is set at the originalmaximum opening width W (FIG. 7).

When the solenoid is excited, the rod 68a retracts to tilt the swing bar65 through the spring 67 as shown by the solid line in FIG. 8, the gatemembers 63 project upward from the rectangular openings 62a of thehorizontal plate 62 to close both ends of the opening of the goal 8 andthus the opening width is narrowed to a narrow opening width w (FIG. 7).

Even if the puck or the like is pinched by the gate member 63 when itprojects, the solenoid is not imposed an unnecessary burden because thespring 67 is lengthened.

On the upper surface of the cover plate 61 of the goal 8, a plurality ofLED 72 is arranged in a line spreading all over the maximum openingwidth W and a manipulation button 73 is disposed.

Every time the player pushes the manipulation button 73, the front andrear solenoids 68 are excited or demagnetized at the same time and someLED 72 in the vicinities of both ends among a plurality of the LED 72are turned on or turned off to show opening width of the goal 8.

That is, when the solenoid 68 is demagnetized, all of the LED 72 areturned on to show that the opening is set at the maximum opening widthW, and when the solenoid 68 is excited, as shown in FIG. 7, LED 72 atthe both end portions are turned off and the other LED 72 at theremaining central portion corresponding to the narrowed opening width ware turned on to show the narrow opening width.

Therefore, the player can set the opening width of the goal 8 at any oneof larger and smaller widths W, w arbitrarily by manipulating themanipulation button 73.

For example, when three players play a game by two-vs.-one, the goal 8of the disadvantageous camp having only one player may be narrowedleaving another goal 8 at the maximum opening width, so that an equallymatched competition can be carried out and the three players can enjoythe play at the same time.

Even in a one-vs.-one competition between two players having skillsdifferent from each other, for example an adult and a child, if theopening width of the goal 8 of a player inferior in the skill isnarrowed and another goal 8 is set at the maximum opening width, thegame can be played amusingly.

Though the opening width of the goal 8 is set at one of two states, wideand narrow, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the goal 8 may be made sothat the opening width can be widened and narrowed gradually andadjusted to an arbitrary width.

In the aforementioned automatic puck feeding device 20 of the air hockeygame device 1, drives of the motor 37 of the lifting mechanism 30 andthe solenoids 43 of the distribution means 42 are controlled by amicrocomputer which receives inputs such as detection signal of the cointhrown into the coin slot 14, selection signal of the selection button15 and detection signal of the pack 6 entering the goal by the scoresensor 24, and controls indication on the indication section 12 andsounds of the speaker 13 as well as the drives of the motor 37,solenoids 43 and the like.

Initially, in the automatic puck feeding device 20 are provided manypucks 6. Namely, the support bars 34 on the front side belt 33 of thepuck lifting mechanism 30 support the pucks 6 respectively, and theright and left recovery passages 33 of the puck recovery mechanism 21stock a plurality of pucks 6 in rows stopped by the stoppers 25.

The game starts when the player throws a coin into the coin slot 14 onthe reverse surface of the main body section 20a and manipulates theselection button 15 to select kind of the game.

In case of the present automatic feeding device 20, a one-puck game inwhich always one puck 6 is treated at a time, and a multi-pucks game inwhich sometimes three pucks 6 are treated in a time, can be selected bythe selection button 15.

The manipulation button disposed at the goal 8 can be manipulatedwhenever to adjust the opening width of the goal 8 suitably.

When the game starts, air begins to be emitted from many holes of theplay field board 4 and the rod 43a of any one of the solenoids 43selected at random is projected. Then, the motor 37 of the puck liftingmechanism 30 is driven during a predetermined time to run the belt 33.The pucks 6 supported on the belt 33 are lifted and a side portion ofthe uppermost puck 6 comes into contact with the projected rod 43a,therefore, the uppermost puck 6 moves to the corresponding detourpassage 41 and drops passing through the guide passage 51 connected withthe detour passage 41.

Therefore, from right or left guide passage 51 decided at random isejected the puck 6 onto the play field board 4.

Since the opening 51a is directed forward from a central position of therear side of the play field board 4 nearby and in parallel with the playfield board 4, the puck 6 coming down by its own weight changesdirection into horizontal guided by the guide passage 51 to be ejectedfrom the opening 51a. The puck 6 is supported on the air emitted upwardand moves smoothly as if it glides along the play field board 4 to aproper position on the play field board 4 near one of the camps.

Since the puck 6 is fed onto the play field board 4 in a properhorizontal posture always, even if the player hits the puck 6 with themallet 7 directly after the puck 6 is ejected, the mallet strikesagainst the outer circumferential surface of the puck 6. Therefore, aninconvenience that the puck 6 jumps out of the field because the mallet7 strikes against a flat face of the puck 6 in an abnormal posture doesnot occur.

When one puck 6 is fed onto the play field board 4, the stopper 25 ofone of the recovery passages 23 operates to move the foremost puck 6having been stopped by the stopper 25 onto the lowermost empty supportbar 34 on the front side belt 33 of the puck lifting mechanism 30. Thus,a plurality of pucks 6 are always standing by to be fed onto the playfield board 4 soon as occasion demands.

In case of the multi-pucks game, too, at first one puck 6 is fed ontothe play field board 4, and the player hits the puck 6 with the mallet 7to shoot aiming at the goal 8 of the opponent.

Besides the case that two players compete with each other byone-vs.-one, a competition of two-vs.-two and other irregular games arealso possible.

When the puck 6 enters one of the goals 8, the puck 6 is received in thereceptacle 22, rolls on the inclined recovery passage 23 and takes therearmost position of the pucks 6 lined up already.

The puck 6 reaching the goal 8 is detected by the score sensor 24 andthe detection signal is inputted into the microcomputer which indicatesa new score on the indication section 12, drives the speaker to generatea sound, drives one of the solenoids 43 of the distribution means toproject the rod 43a for feeding a new puck 6 to the defeated side camp,and then drives the motor 37 to eject a puck 6 from one of the guidepassages 51 to the defeated side camp. Thus, a game can be carried outby a rule corresponding to the service right in the actual game.

In case of multi-pucks game time-zone, after the first puck is fed tothe defeated side camp, a second puck 6 is fed to the winning side campand then a third puck 6 is fed to the defeated side camp, so that threepucks 6 in all are fed onto the play field board in succession.Therefore, the players attack and defend with the three pucks 6 in sightto enjoy a more exciting game.

If all of the three pucks 6 reach the goal within a time periodpredetermined for the game, next three pucks 6 are fed again insuccession, the first puck being fed to a camp which was defeated more.The multi-pucks game time-zone can be changed arbitrarily by a softprogram.

As described above, in the air hockey game device 1, the puck 6 is fedonto the play field board 4 by the automatic puck feeding device 20, sothat the player is not required to take out the puck 6 from interior ofthe goal 8 and place it on the play field board 4, and can concentrateon the play only to be excited.

Since the puck 6 is fed by the automatic puck feeding device 20 in steadof a man, it is possible to feed the puck 6 onto the play field board 4always in a pertinent posture and to a pertinent position.

Since many pucks 6 are stocked in the box body 3, even if a puck 6 islost, the device is available without interruption only by switching onagain.

In the aforementioned multi-pucks game, three pucks were treated at thesame time, but the number of pucks to be treated at the same time is notlimited to three.

The end opening 51a of the guide passage 51 is formed at a positionsomewhat higher compared with the play field board 4 with a stepdifference, so that the puck 6 ejected horizontally can get on the airemitted from the play field board 4 smoothly and the step differenceprevents the puck 6 approaching the opening 51a levitated by the air onthe play field board 4 from entering the opening 51a in the oppositedirection.

FIGS. 10 to 13 show another embodiment of the puck recovery mechanism21. FIGS. 10 and 11 show the interior of the goal 8 where a cover plate61 covers over the play field board 4 at a height allowing a piece ofthe puck 6 to pass and an opening having a width allowing two or threepieces of the puck 6 to pass at the same time is formed by cutting theframe rail 5.

As shown in FIG. 11, the cover plate 61 has a bent side wall 61a formedat the inner part of the goal for guiding downward and dropping the puck6 entering through the goal opening. Under the cover plate 61 ispositioned a square pipe 122 having upper and lower rectangular openingslong in the front and rear direction. Front and rear side walls of thesquare pipe 122 have lower half portions inclined inwardly for directingthe lower opening to a predetermined position (FIG. 10).

Under the lower opening of the square pipe 122 is disposed a conveyorbelt 126 of an upper belt conveyor 125 wound round front and rear rolls127, 128. Under the rear roll 128 is disposed a front roll 132 of alower belt conveyor 130, and round the front roll 132 and a rear roll133 of the conveyor 130 is wound a conveyor belt 131.

Under the upper belt conveyor 125 is disposed a driving motor 135. Adriving pulley 136 fitted to a driving shaft of the driving motor 135, adriven pulley 129 coaxial with the rear roll 128 of the upper beltconveyor 125 and a driven pulley 134 coaxial with the front roll 132 ofthe lower belt conveyor 130 are projected so as to form the samevertical surface and a driving belt 137 is wound round these threepulleys 136, 129, 134.

The driven pulley 134 of the lower belt conveyor 130 has a diametersmaller than that of the driven pulley 129 of the upper belt conveyor125. Therefore, when the upper belt conveyor 125 and the lower beltconveyor 130 are driven through the driving belt 137 by the drivingmotor 135, speed of the lower belt conveyor 130 is larger than that ofthe upper belt conveyor 125.

A gate plate 140 is hung along a lower stream end of the upper beltconveyor 125. As shown in FIG. 12, the gate plate 140 has an upper halfsection 140a standing vertically and a lower half section comprising ainclined portion 140b bent rearward from the upper half section and alower end portion 140c bent again to hang vertically.

The upper half section 140a is formed with a flat rectangular gateopening 141 at a position of the same height as the upper side of theconveyor belt 126 of the upper belt conveyor 125. The vertical andhorizontal widths of the gate opening 141 are such that only one puck 6coming transported by the conveyor belt 126 is allowed to pass.

Therefore, when a plurality of pucks reach the gate plate 140transported by the upper belt conveyor 125 in a heap as shown in FIG.13, a lowermost puck 6₁ enters the gate openings 141 positioned at thesame height as the puck 6₁, and a puck 6₂ placed on the puck 6₁ abutsagainst a part of the gate plate 140 above the gate opening 141 andstops. The puck 6₂ can pass through the gate opening 141 following thepuck 6₁, provided that the puck 6₂ is placed directly on the conveyorbelt 126 after the puck 6₁ passes through the gate opening 141.

In such a manner, even if a plurality of pucks 6 are transported in aheap, these pucks are taken out through the gate opening 141 one by onealways.

The puck 6 taken out drops onto the lower belt conveyor 130. A lightprojector 145a and a light receiver 145b of a photo-sensor 145 isarranged so that a detection light streams across the dropping path ofthe puck 6. Therefore, the photo-sensor 145 detects the puck 6 runningout of the gate opening 141 and dropping when the puck 6 interrupts thedetection light projected from the light projector 145a.

The puck 6 dropped on the lower belt conveyor 130 is further transportedrearward by the conveyor belt 131 and sent out to a recovery passage 150which has an entrance 150a opening at a lower stream end of the lowerbelt conveyor 130. Since the speed of the lower belt conveyor 130 ishigher than that of the upper belt conveyor 125, even if some pucks 6drop onto the conveyor belt 131 successively, the preceding puck hasbeen already transported by some distance by the conveyor belt 131 atthe time when the succeeding puck drops on the conveyor belt 131 so thatthe pucks are transported leaving a predetermined or more space betweenthem always.

Therefore, the pucks 6 are brought in the entrance 150a of the recoverypassage 150 at regular intervals so that the pucks 6 are not jammed atthe entrance 150a and can be brought in the recovery passage 150smoothly.

The recovery passage 150 extends from the entrance 150a to the lower endof the main body section 20a of the automatic puck feeding device 20slanting downward along the inner surface of the rear wall of the boxbody 3. The puck 6 rolls on the slanting recovery passage 150 by its ownweight and reaches the lower end of the main body section 20a of theautomatic puck feeding device 20.

The puck 6 reaching the lower end of the main body section 20a is liftedupward and fed again onto the play field board 4 through the guidepassage 51, as stated above.

In the puck recovery mechanism having such a construction as mentionedabove, the puck entering the opening of the goal 8 drops onto the upperbelt conveyor 125 guided by the square pipe 122, passes through the gateopening 141 of the gate plate 140 to be dropped onto the lower beltconveyor 130 while detected by the photo-sensor 145, is transportedrearward by the lower belt conveyor 130 at high speed to be brought inthe recovery passage 150, and is recovered in the automatic puck feedingdevice 20 guided by the recovery passage 150.

In the above-mentioned air hockey game device, two or more pucks 6 canbe fed onto the play field board 4 at the same time, and a game suchthat opposite players move a plurality of pucks 6 to shoot aiming a goalof an opponent and victory or defeat is decided by the number ofreaching-goals can be carried out. The puck 6 reaching goal is detectedby the photo-sensor 145 to increase score. The score is indicated on theaforementioned indication section 12.

When two or more pucks 6 are treated, sometimes a plurality of pucks 6enter a goal 8 at the same time, or a plurality of pucks 6 are heaped upon the conveyor belt 126 of the upper belt conveyor 125. However, owingto the gate plate 140, the pucks 6 pass through the gate opening 141 anddrops onto the lower belt conveyor 130 one by one surely so that thephoto-sensor 145 can detect the pucks 6 one by one surely always.

The puck 6 dropped on the lower belt conveyor 130 is transported at thehigh speed and brought in the entrance 150a of the recovery passage 150,so that even if a plurality of pucks 6 reach goal, there is no fear thatthe pucks 6 are jammed at the entrance 150a of the recovery passage 150.

Since the puck 6 reaching goal is dropped, transported by the upper beltconveyor 125 forcibly, let pass through the gate opening 141 anddetected by the photo-sensor 145, the time from an instant the puckreaches goal until the puck is detected is short and a new score can beindicated very soon, therefore, interest of the player is not spoiled.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The present invention can be utilized for a game device for playing agame simulating hockey, soccer or the like by moving a moving bodylevitated by air emitted in a state of small friction resistance.

We claim:
 1. A game device for playing a game, said game device comprising:a play field board; a moving body levitated by air emitted from a number of holes formed in said play field board; and a moving body feeding device for automatically feeding said moving body onto said play field board, wherein said moving body feeding device comprises:recovery means for recovering said moving body after use; lifting means for lifting said moving body recovered by said recovery means above said play field board; dropping means for dropping said moving body lifted by said lifting means; and guide means for guiding said moving body dropped by said dropping means onto said play field board.
 2. A game device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said guide means has a discharge outlet positioned at a height near an upper surface of said play field board, thereby said dropped moving body is guided so as to run out horizontally onto said play field board when moving direction of said moving body is changed to about horizontal direction.
 3. A game device as claimed in claim 2, wherein said play field board is shaped in a rectangle; goals are provided at right and left symmetrical positions of said play field board; said recovery means recovers said body after use entering said goal to a lower portion at a middle of a front or rear side edge of said play field board; and said lifting means, said dropping means and said guide means are arranged above said lower portion where said moving body is recovered by said recovery means.
 4. A game device as claimed in claim 3, wherein a pair of said guide means are provided right and left, and said dropping means has distributing means for distributing said moving body lifted by said lifting means to any one of said right and left guide means.
 5. A game device as claimed in any one of claims 2, 3 or 4, wherein said lifting means lifts a plurality of said moving bodies recovered by said recovery means continuously, and said dropping means drops said moving bodies lifted by said lifting means one by one.
 6. A game device as claimed in claim 3, wherein an opening width adjustment means for adjusting width of an opening in said goal which said moving body enters is provided.
 7. A game device claimed in claim 6, wherein an operation switch for instructing drive of said opening width adjustment means is provided.
 8. A game device for playing a game, said game device comprising;a rectangular shaped play field board; a moving body levitated by air emitted from a number of holes formed in said play field board; and a moving body feeding device for automatically feeding said body onto said play field board, wherein goal openings are provided at right and left symmetrical positions of said play field board; and said moving body feeding device includes used moving body recovery means having a first conveyor provided under said goal opening, a gate provided at a take-out place of said first conveyor for letting said moving body pass one by one, and a detection means for detecting said moving body passing through said gate.
 9. A game device as claimed in claim 8, wherein a second conveyor under said gate for receiving and transporting said moving body detected by said detection means, and a recovery passage having an upper stream end positioned under a carry-out place of said second conveyor and inclined for moving said moving body to a predetermined position are provided, and said second conveyor transports said moving body at a speed higher than that of said first conveyor.
 10. A game device as claimed in claim 8, wherein said gate is a plate member standing at said carry-out place of said first conveyor and having an opening at the same height as said first conveyor for allowing one piece of said moving body to pass.
 11. A game device as claimed in claim 8 or 9, wherein a frame rail is projected along circumference of said play field board and said goal openings are formed at right and left symmetrical positions of said frame rail.
 12. A game device as claimed in claim 8 or 9 wherein said moving body is shaped in a disk.
 13. A game device as claimed in claim 9, wherein said first and second conveyors are belt conveyors. 